Status message

The U.K. election: Another fine mess

If the future of the United Kingdom and its relationship with the European Union looked uncertain before the 8 June general election, it looks even worse after it.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to call a snap election was meant to increase the government’s parliamentary majority by exploiting the internecine rivalry within the opposition Labour Party. Instead, she managed to lose seats, lose the Tory Party majority, and galvanise Jeremy Corbyn’s position as opposition leader—a rare feat that no pollster put money on.

At a cost of £130m to the taxpayer, the general election has widely been seen as a disaster for the government and an unnecessary distraction from a wealth of problems that the country is facing, not least Brexit.

May’s calamitous gamble was meant—in her own words—to strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations with the European Union and the European Commission. Nothing could now be further from the truth, and the inescapable fact is that... To get the full story, subscribe now.